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<div><h1 class="article-title">How are grades calculated in Gradebook?</h1></div>
<div>



    <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock screensteps-wrapper--introduction screensteps-wrapper">
  <div id="text-content_80C23C01-1280-438F-94A3-10C44212347A" class="text-block-content">
    <p>Course grade calculations depend on your gradebook's organization and grade entry setting, points (described here) or percentages:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>No categories (default) </strong>- Each gradebook item is assigned a simple point value. The course grade is determined by the student's total score divided by the total points possible.</li>
<li>
<strong>Categories only</strong> - Categories are used to group gradebook items, where items are assigned a simple point or percentage value. Similar to a gradebook with <strong>No categories</strong>, the course grade is determined by the student's total score divided by the total points possible. This structure provides the option to drop the lowest grade(s), keep the highest grade(s), or drop the highest grade(s) within a Category.</li>
<li>
<strong>Categories and weighting</strong>- Items are grouped into categories, where each Category is assigned a percentage of the course grade. The total score of all items in a Category will comprise the Category's percentage of the course grade. This structure provides the option to drop the lowest grade(s), keep the highest grade(s), or drop the highest grade(s) within a Category.</li>
</ul>
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      <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-1" id="no-categories">
    <h2 class="step-title screensteps-heading">No Categories</h2>
        <div class="image screensteps-image">
      <a href="https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/006/985/614/original/3730662b-f84c-4db3-983e-aabdc2710c8b.png" class="screensteps-image-zoom">
        <img src="https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/006/985/614/medium/3730662b-f84c-4db3-983e-aabdc2710c8b.png" alt="Image of gradebook with no categories" height="258" width="855">
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      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_C48C799F-E46F-42D4-B27F-76D14EDC42BD" class="text-block-content">
    <p>In a default gradebook with <strong>No categories</strong>, course grades are calculated for each student by dividing the sum of the scores received for all graded items by the total points possible for those items.</p>
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      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock screensteps-wrapper--info screensteps-wrapper">
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    <p><em><strong>Note</strong>: <strong>Ungraded</strong> items are <strong>not included</strong> in a student's course grade. Leaving a grade entry blank reduces the total points possible by the point value of the ungraded item for that student.</em></p>
<p><em>In the example pictured above, most students were graded out of 200 total points. However, Aimee has not received a grade for Homework 2 (100 points possible).  Thus, their current course grade is calculated with 87/100 =  87%.</em></p>
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      <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-1" id="categories-only">
    <h2 class="step-title screensteps-heading">Categories Only</h2>
      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_9886D9AD-BE2D-4884-8565-EB2D5CE3B993" class="text-block-content">
    <p>With <strong>Categories only</strong>, course grades are calculated the same as in a gradebook with <strong>No categories</strong> (described above). However, if all items in a Category have the same total point value, you can automatically drop the lowest or highest grades or keep the highest grades within that Category. Dropped grades are omitted from the course grade calculation, and the total points possible in the Category are reduced by the point value(s) of the omitted item(s).</p>
<p>By using the <strong>Keep Highest</strong> option instead of the <strong>Drop Lowest</strong> to drop the lowest grade(s), no grades will be dropped in the Category until the number of items kept is exceeded.</p>
<p>See below for example calculations when grades in a Category are dropped or kept.</p>
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      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock screensteps-wrapper--info screensteps-wrapper">
  <div id="text-content_31FECC82-2140-4C37-BDB4-AFB950A1F2B1" class="text-block-content">
    <p><em><strong>Note</strong>: You must assign each item to a Category for the item to be included in students' course grades.</em></p>
<p><em>Grades can only be entered in Gradebook items; you cannot enter grades into a Category with no items.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Ungraded</strong> items are <strong>not included</strong> in a student's course grade.  Leaving a grade entry blank reduces the total points possible by the point value of the ungraded item for that student.</em></p>
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        <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-2" id="categories-with-dropped-grades">
    <h3 class="step-title screensteps-heading">Categories with Drop Lowest/Highest</h3>
        <div class="image screensteps-image">
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        <img src="https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/006/987/108/medium/3d3cd3b2-02fe-47e3-b551-a48f50ea9917.png" alt="Image of dropped gradebook items" height="271" width="855">
      </a>
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      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_1819C1FB-0F99-4824-992C-2E08D4786B15" class="text-block-content">
    <p>Pictured above is a Gradebook with two categories: <strong>Assignments</strong> and <strong>Quizzes</strong>. The <strong>Assignments</strong> Category drops the lowest grade, and includes two assignments, each worth 10 points. The <strong>Quizzes</strong> Category includes <strong>Quiz 1</strong> (10 points) and <strong>Quiz 2</strong> (20 points). There are 40 points possible because only one assignment and the two quiz grades are included in the course grade calculation.</p>
<p>In the example, <strong>Albert</strong> received the following grades:</p>
<p><strong>Assignments:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>Assignment 1</strong> (10 points)</li>
<li><em><strong>Assignment 2</strong> (8 points) (lowest grade - dropped)</em></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Quizzes: (not pictured)</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>Quiz 1</strong> (9 points)</li>
<li>
<strong>Quiz 2</strong> (19 points)</li>
</ul>
<p>Since the <strong>Assignment 2</strong> grade is dropped, Albert's course grade is <strong>95%</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>10 + 9 + 19 = 38 points earned</li>
<li>38/40 = 0.95</li>
</ul>
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        <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-2" id="categories-with-keep-highest">
    <h3 class="step-title screensteps-heading">Categories with Keep Highest</h3>
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      <a href="https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/006/987/110/original/1cd584fd-3f54-4e08-8d53-d6c1fcf2611d.png" class="screensteps-image-zoom">
        <img src="https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/006/987/110/medium/1cd584fd-3f54-4e08-8d53-d6c1fcf2611d.png" alt="Image of gradebook with keep highest scores." height="182" width="855">
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      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_73F1BA60-F906-455E-A030-58A73C1738BB" class="text-block-content">
    <p>Pictured above is a Gradebook with two categories: <strong>Assignments</strong> and <strong>Quizzes </strong>(not shown). The <strong>Assignments</strong> Category keeps the two highest grades, and includes three assignments, each worth 10 points. The <strong>Quizzes</strong> Category includes <strong>Quiz 1</strong> (10 points) and <strong>Quiz 2</strong> (20 points). There are 50 points possible because only two assignments and the two quiz grades are included in the course grade calculation.</p>
<p>Before the third assignment grade is entered, Student 0181 received the following grades:</p>
<p><strong>Assignments:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>Assignment 1</strong> (10 points) (1<sup>st</sup> highest grade - kept)</li>
<li>
<strong>Assignment 2</strong> (8 points) (2<sup>nd</sup> highest grade - kept)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Quizzes:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>Quiz 1</strong> (9 points)</li>
<li>
<strong>Quiz 2</strong> (19 points)</li>
</ul>
<p>No grades are dropped yet because we have used the <strong>Keep Highest</strong> option, so Student Five's grade is 92<strong>%</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>10 + 8 + 9 + 19 = 46 points earned</li>
<li>46/50 = 0.92</li>
</ul>
<p>In comparison, if <strong>Drop Lowest</strong> were used instead, Student 0181's grade would have been calculated as only 36 points earned out of 40 points (<strong>95%</strong>), as shown in the example above where the lowest grade of two assignment is dropped. </p>
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      <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-1">
    <h2 class="step-title screensteps-heading">Categories &amp; Weighting</h2>
      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_BB83E40F-BEA0-4881-A3C3-05D015698484" class="text-block-content">
    <p>Use Categories &amp; Weighting to group Gradebook items into Categories, and weight each Category as a percentage of the total course grade. The sum total of all Category percentages must equal 100<strong>%</strong>.</p>
<p>For example, if Exams are worth 20% of the course grade, the Exams Category (20%) could include a Midterm Exam (50 points) and<strong> </strong>Final Exam (100 points).</p>
<p>Each student's course grade is the sum of the categories' weighted averages. See below for additional information about dropping and keeping grades, and for example calculations.</p>
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      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock screensteps-wrapper--info screensteps-wrapper">
  <div id="text-content_BC3BFE62-3E44-4AB9-8558-7E47056DFB20" class="text-block-content">
    <p><em><strong>Note</strong>: You must assign each item to a Category for the item to be included in students' course grades.</em></p>
<p><em>Grades can only be entered in Gradebook items; you cannot enter grades into a Category with no items.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Ungraded</strong> items are <strong>not included</strong> in a student's course grade. If any grade entry is left blank, the total points possible within the Category are reduced by the point value(s) of the ungraded item(s) for that student.</em></p>
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        <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-2" id="dropping-and-keeping-grades">
    <h3 class="step-title screensteps-heading">Dropping and Keeping Grades</h3>
      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_43E570D2-471F-43DB-A47D-BC56AD6E002D" class="text-block-content">
    <p>If all items in a Category have the same total point value, you can automatically drop the lowest or highest grades or keep the highest grades within that Category. Dropped grades are omitted from the course grade calculation, and the total points possible in the Category are reduced by the point value(s) of the omitted item(s).</p>
<p>By using the <strong>Keep Highest</strong> option instead of <strong>Drop Lowest</strong> to drop the lowest grade(s), no grades will be dropped in the Category until the number of items kept is exceeded. </p>
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        <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-2" id="categories-weighting-example-calculations">
    <h3 class="step-title screensteps-heading">Categories &amp; Weighting - example calculations</h3>
      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_D7087B80-CFCE-4DC7-984B-D17D33A13B55" class="text-block-content">
    <p>Below is an example of how a gradebook with three weighted categories, <strong>Exams</strong> (20%), <strong>Assignments</strong> (40%), and <strong>Quizzes</strong> (40%), would calculate a student's grade.</p>
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        <div class="image screensteps-image">
      <a href="https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/006/987/112/original/9188a6c6-2d8c-4b42-bd35-ed811d235d61.png" class="screensteps-image-zoom">
        <img src="https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/006/987/112/medium/9188a6c6-2d8c-4b42-bd35-ed811d235d61.png" alt="Image of example calculations for categories and weighting." height="188" width="855">
      </a>
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        <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-3" id="the-gradebook-calculates-the-weighted-average-in-each-category-by">
    <h4 class="step-title screensteps-heading">The Gradebook calculates the weighted average in each Category by doing the following:</h4>
      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_BDE821A4-92BB-4D92-BBBD-36ED8428D4C0" class="text-block-content">
    <ol>
<li>Totaling the <strong>student's scores</strong> for all graded items in the Category<ul>
<li>In the example, in <strong>Exams</strong>, Student 0181 earned: <strong>Final Exam (</strong>95 points) + <strong>Midterm Exam </strong>(40<strong> </strong>points) = <strong>135 points<br></strong>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Totaling the <strong>point values</strong> for all graded items in the Category<ul>
<li>
<strong>Final Exam</strong> (95 points) + <strong>Midterm Exam</strong> (40 points) =<strong> 150 total points<br></strong>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Dividing the <strong>student's score</strong> by the <strong>total points </strong>and then <strong>multiplying that number by 100 </strong>to determine the <strong>Category average</strong>:<br>Student 0181's <strong>Category average</strong> in <strong>Exams</strong> is <strong>90%</strong>:<ul>
<li>135/150 = 0.90</li>
<li>0.90 x 100 = <strong>90%<br></strong>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Applying the <strong>weight</strong> to the <strong>Category average<br></strong>Because the <strong>Exams</strong> Category is worth <strong>20%</strong> of the course grade, Student 0181's <strong>weighted average</strong> is <strong>18</strong>:<ul>
<li>To get 20% of a number, multiply the number by 0.2.</li>
<li>90 x 0.2 = <strong>18</strong>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
  </div>
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      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock screensteps-wrapper--tip screensteps-wrapper">
  <div id="text-content_D3D229D8-5E28-42E5-B67F-B5D7A913F965" class="text-block-content">
    <p><em>Tip: The <strong>Category average</strong> is shown in a column to the right of the Gradebook items in that Category.</em></p>
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  </div>
 
        <div class="step screensteps-section screensteps-depth-3" id="the-gradebook-totals-the-weighted-averages-to-produce-the-course-grade">
    <h4 class="step-title screensteps-heading">The Gradebook totals the weighted averages to produce the course grade.</h4>
      <div class="step-instructions screensteps-textblock">
  <div id="text-content_10F087F8-01D7-427A-9FEF-1DB8CDABC7BC" class="text-block-content">
    <p>If Student 0181 received a <strong>Category average</strong> of <strong>75%</strong> for <strong>Assignments</strong> and <strong>85%</strong> for <strong>Quizzes</strong>, that student's <strong>course grade</strong> would be <strong>82%</strong>, calculated as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>Exams</strong> (20%) weighted average (shown above) = <strong>18</strong>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Assignments</strong> (40%) weighted average = 0.4 x 82.5 = <strong>33</strong>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Quizzes</strong> (40%) weighted average = 0.4 x 93 = <strong>37.2</strong>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Course Grade</strong> = 18 + 33 + 37 = <strong>88</strong>
</li>
</ul>
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